US Air Force awards contract for 1500 StormBreaker smart weapons

News, US March 29, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

The United States Air Force has awarded defense firm Raytheon Technologies a $320 million contract to produce and deliver 1500 StormBreaker smart weapons.

The StormBreaker is an air-to-surface, network enabled smart weapon can engage moving targets in all weather conditions using its multi-effects warhead and tri-mode seeker.

President of Air Power at Raytheon Missiles & Defense, Paul Ferraro said, “Having StormBreaker in the warfighter’s arsenal provides unprecedented capability against moving targets, regardless of conditions.”

Ferraro added that “It also expands our production line and reinforces our commitment of ensuring the warfighter has the next-level munitions they need to safely and successfully accomplish the mission.”

According to the Raytheon Technologies Corporation, the StormBreaker’s integrated seeker “works in three modes to provide maximum operational flexibility”, including millimeter wave radar that detects and tracks targets through weather, imaging infrared that provides enhanced target discrimination, and semi-active laser enables the weapon to track an airborne laser designator or ground-based target. It can also use GPS guidance to hit targets.

The weapon contains small explosives, which makes it precise and keeps the collateral damage to a minimum. It can hit moving, armored targets from more than 40 miles away.

*^{U.S. Navy conducted the first weapon drop of a Raytheon StormBreaker smart weapon from a Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II. (Image Credit: Raytheon Missiles & Defense)}*

According to Raytheon, “The weapon has proven itself in many complex test scenarios, against a variety of targets in extreme environmental conditions”.

The weapon weighs about 200 pounds (92 kilograms), and the F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet can carry up to 20 StormBreaker smart bombs. The Warheads, equipped with shape charge jets, fragmentation and blast charge effects, and an option for a delayed smart fuze, are “powerful enough to defeat tanks”.

StormBreaker weapon is fielded on the U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle and is officially approved for operational use on the fighter jet. The weapon system is also being tested on the F-35B and F/A-18 fighter jets. The StormBreaker weapon has more than hundred successful operational test shots to date.